The reader, pardon, leader of the opposition, Sonia Gandhi, appears to have had a wonderful day out in Parliament yesterday, if national dailies are to be believed. And at the end of the day it seems all the veterans, sniggering veterans at that, were floored by her, just a novice, and left crawling on the floor of the House. Probably, some even found themselves at the bottom of the well of the House, we do not know. In short, the general drift of the coverage by exalted journos of her 'performance' in Parliament yesterday was that while Sonia was combative, punchy and did full justice to her speech writers and even going beyond the script when deemed necessary, her opponents were either bemused or sullen, supercillious or wearing superior looks!

Aah, what fawning admiration for an IMFL--Indian Made Foreign Leader, and what unreserved contempt for the sons of the soil! But what takes the cake is the description of Sonia's speech as a 'performance'. A deadly give away, that. Of course, she is a performer pandering to an audience as in an elocution contest, not a natural leader whose virtue is spontaneity. So much so that her breaking away from the prepared text becomes instant news, a matter of profound importance to be taken notice of as a sinister warning to her opponents. It does not seem to appeal to her cheer leaders in the media, particularly that her extempore escapades are just minor digressions and that minus the sheaf of papers Madam Maino would not get anywhere and would be groping in the wilderness of ignorance on her special day out! It is a mediocrity that can be unmasked in a jiffy by the discerning but is deliberately being ignored by those who have pulled the wool over their own eyes.

And of what use is a performance without a chosen audience, to clap during the pauses in the script, cheer when the script is occasionally overstepped and applaud heavily even when the reader, pardon, leader was only coughing or clearing the throat? So it was that the auditorium, sorry Parliament, was overflowing with fans all in attendance to watch the leader in the making. Priyanka was there and so were all the Congress Stall-warts, who derive special pleasure in stalling Parliament at their leader's bidding but are no more than mere warts in the Signora's scheme of things. And they all did their allotted job dutifully, backing her to the hilt and propping her up to their might. The Congmen may not have spine, but that does not mean that they could not become their leader's backbone. But the rub is that while experienced and respected leaders like Vajpayee, Advani, MM Joshi and Jaswant are projected as cowering cowards, the faceless Congressmen who have put this Sikhandi of a leader to front for them so that they can amble to power, get to be seen in a virtuous light! Can things get more perverted?

The most sickening aspect of the Sonia-mania is the attempt to groom her and then parading the same shamelessly as a perfectly acceptable phenomenon. Her backers, both in the Congress and in the media, obviously have no qualms in converting Parliament into a sort of preparatory school. Just sample this comment in a national daily: '...out to prove to critics and admirers alike that her apperenticeship was over and she was ready to take charge of the party's parliamentary columns'. That probably is the primary school level from the Congmen's perspective. The Secondary level, you can guess, is the nation itself whence this Student Sonia, after having survived the parliamentary primary to the satisfaction of her fans, would be pitchforked into a position of power, by hook or crook or both. Of course, she can always learn the nuances once on the job. That is the privilege of being wedded into the country's premier family.